Smithfield Foods announced Tuesday its European operations would become a separate subsidiary of Hong Kong-based parent company WH Group.
“It’s the right time to establish our North American and European operations as stand-alone businesses empowered to execute distinct strategies addressing different market environments and opportunities,” Smithfield Foods President and CEO Shane Smith said in a release. “In doing so, we provide our respective management teams with increased decision-making agility, optimizing the performance and prospects for each business.”
The European business, formerly known as Smithfield Europe, is now Morliny Foods, which has adopted a region-specific growth strategy to address a more fragmented European market, the company said. The business supplies fresh pork and poultry and packaged meats across the continent from operations in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Smithfield Foods, based in Smithfield, said it plans to continue driving North American growth through product innovation and investments in its core packaged meats segment. The company also has a majority stake in Altosano, previously known as Granjas Carroll de México, a joint venture in Mexico and one of the nation’s leading suppliers of fresh pork.
In July, WH Group proposed pursuing a separate listing for its Smithfield Foods business in the U.S. and Mexico on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq stock market, pending regulatory, board and exchange approvals. The company’s expectation is that Smithfield Foods, the largest U.S. pork producer, would remain a subsidiary.
Smithfield Foods previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange before WH Group acquired the company in a $4.7 billion deal in 2013.
